Next month, a former high-ranking New York <$NoAd$> City jails chief, Anthony Serra, who was promoted again and again by Bernard Kerik, finally goes on trial.
We pick up the story in progress from Dan Janison in Newsday …
One former Correction Department official told Newsday: “This is about the integrity issues and questioning of whether you were ‘on the team’ that came up when Bernie ran the agency.”
Kerik — who remains under scrutiny because he abruptly withdrew his nomination last Friday for the nation’s top security post — once warned correction subordinates he was a “hunter of men” and demanded loyalty.
The trial of former three-star correction chief Serra is scheduled next month in State Supreme Court in the Bronx on dozens of counts, including grand larceny. The allegations are related to Serra’s paid role in running Republican campaigns and the rebuilding of his suburban house using labor and materials that belonged to city taxpayers.
Another high-ranking department retiree who declined to be identified said that depending upon how testimony is elicited, new questions could arise about Kerik’s command of the agency.
And some of the water laps at Rudy’s feet …
More recently, a retired correction officer, who the Bronx DA says was ordered to work on Serra’s house while being paid by the city, was hired for a joint venture involving Giuliani’s consulting in Florida, private sources confirmed. “Giuliani-Kerik cannot comment on questions related to a private contract,” said Chris Rising, a spokesman for the consulting business.
A hunter of men, mumbo meets jumbo.
